Referat: 120; 310                                                              07. Juni 2017 Bearbeiter/-in:    Ellen Funch (3504); Matthias Krause (3495) S p r e c h z e t t e l Anlass: „Partnership Dialogue 5: Increasing economic benefits to small islands developing States and least developed countries and providing access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets” Sprechpunkte • Germany supports the necessity to implement concrete actions to increase economic benefits to SIDS and LDCs from the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources as outlined in the S.A.M.O.A. pathway. • We recognize the importance of sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism as economic drivers, and the particular need to provide access for small-scale fishers to marine resources and to markets - while not ignoring the need for conserving marine resources as the providers of valuable ecosystem services for human well being. • Therefore German Development Cooperation is stepping up its cooperation in the marine realm. The Ministry for Development Cooperation has launched in 2016 a 10 point plan of action for marine conservation and sustainable fisheries and has allocated more than 200 million US Dollar (more than 180 million Euro) as voluntary commitments to its implementation – roughly 50% of it for SIDS and LDCs. The Ministry of the Environment will continue its support through the international climate initiative for the conserving and sustainable use of marine biodiversity including the support of sustainable small scale fisheries. • Examples under the plan of action include: Initiatives: The newly created Blue Action Fund that was launched in a side event today: Its first open call for proposals is focused excluhsively on SIDS. The call is directed at 1/2

-2- national and international NGOs. Projects will safeguard marine biodiversity and promote its sustainable use through small-scale fisheries. We also stepped up funding of the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund which follows a similar approach. A new sustainable fisheries and aquaculture program within the ONEWORLD No Hunger Initiative with a focus on African countries and aiming at securing livelihoods, food security and economic benefits. o Partnerships: To improve the sustainability of fisheries and its supply chains: With the private sector we created the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) that enhances sustainable fisheries management on the producer, and responsible behavior on the consumer side. To combat illegal, undocumented and unreported fisheries (IUU) within given legal instruments and together with our partners EU, NORAD, ILO, Interpol, UNODC and FAO. In addition we partner with FAO to implement the Voluntary Guidelines for Small Scale Fisheries (VGSSF). Statement_PD5.DOCX                    2/2